E&E NEWS: CLEAN WATER RULE: DOJ urges Texas court to consider WOTUS injunction
The Justice Department wants a Texas federal district judge to consider the motions of states and industry groups for a preliminary injunction of the Obama-era CleanWater Rule.
The request, made in a court filing Wednesday, comes the week after a South Carolina federal district judge knocked down the Trump administration’s two-year delay of the regulation, also known as the Waters of the U.S., or WOTUS, rule.
DOJ says that the South Carolina ruling created a “regulatory patchwork” that “does not serve the public interest.”
DOJ’s brief represents a reversal, in part, of its prior position. The Trump administration had earlier stood firmly against a stay of WOTUS, arguing that there was no risk of immediate harm because the Trump administration had delayed the rule’s start date.
But DOJ said it is now withdrawing that argument. Last week’s decision in South Carolina enjoining the two-year delay rule meant the Obama regulation went into effect in 26 states where other federal courts have not previously halted WOTUS (E&E News PM, Aug. 16).
“If the South Carolina decision stands, one definition of ‘waters of the United States’ will apply in some states while another definition will apply in the remaining states,” the government said in the filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as several farm groups, are all pushing the Texas District Court to consider their motions to halt WOTUS on an expedited basis.
